Locomotive stoker



May 1, 1934. LOWER 1,957,409

LOCOMOTIVE' STOKER Original Filed July 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

Nathan M LOU/8f BY A TTORNEY.

Original Filed July 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Nat/2a M. Lo cue/A TTORNEY.

y 1934- N. M. LOWER 57,409

LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Original Filed July 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.Aims/1mm Lou/eh BY ATTORNEY.

y 1, 1934- N. M. LOWER 1,957,409

LOGOMOTIVE STOKER Original Filed July 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 4f 9 /Z 440H 48 42 Q I; i

I I o'in '6\o f6 43 /z y 4f 29 /0 62' 'M 60 IN V EN TOR. Nathan M LoweATTOW Patented May 1 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT .OFF'IC The StandardStoker Company, Incorporated,

a corporation of Delaware Original application July 2,

1928, Serial No.

289,774. Divided and this application December 23, 1933, Serial No.703,763

7 Claims.

My invention relates to mechanical stokers, and especially pertains tostokers for locomotives and the like.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No.289,774, filed July 2, 1928, for Locomotive stoker, now Patent1,947,723.

In the United States Letters Patent No. 1,711,466 granted April 30, 1929to E. A. Turner, there is disclosed a locomotive stoker in which thefuel is fed by means of a conduit disposed beneath the floor of thetender into a riser conduit which slopes upward to the lower part of thefiring opening of the firebox, a conveyor screw being disposed in suchriser conduit so as to deliver the fuel easily and without materialpressure or relative movement of its particles to a distributor platewithin the firing opening, whereby easy feeding is obtained and breakageof the fuel into undesirably small particles is materially reduced. Itis one object of my invention to improve upon stokers of this type bydecreasing the necessary upward slope of the'riser conduit, and, ingeneral, to provide a stoker having a conduit device extending from thefirebox of the locomotive to a positionbeneath the tender, in which theupward slope of such conduit device to the firebox is reduced to aminimum, thereby facilitating the feeding of fuel through such conduitdevice and further providing against the breakage of the fuel intoundesirably small particles.

. Others of my objects, among which are to provide for easy driving ofthe fuel conveying device in spite of material angularity of partsthereof with respect to each other'and to obtain a free flow of fueithrough .the conduit device, in' spite of bends therein, will appearfrom the following specification taken in connection with the claimsannexed thereto.

While, without exceeding the scope thereof as defined in the appendedclaims, my invention may be embodied in numerous constructional forms, Ihave described one form thereof, by way of example, in the followingspecification, and shown the same in the accompanying drawings, in whichFig. 1 is aplan of a locomotive stoker constructed in accordance with myinvention, shown as applied to a locomotive, the firebox of which isindicated in section, the locomotive cab deck and the tender beingomitted;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the stoker shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 isan enlarged plan, partly in section, of the front or outlet portion ofthe stoker;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the rear portion of the stoker, disposedbeneath the tender, the section being taken on the line IV--IV of Fig.1;

Figs. 5 and 6 are an elevation and a plan, respectively, of theuniversal joint between the fuel conveying members of the stoker;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of F 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the power drive mechanism with some parts insection and other parts removed to best illustrate the construction;

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 99 of Fig. 8:

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 8;

*Fig. 11 is an elevation of the clutch drive with the cover removedshowing the ratchet wheel and pawl mechanism; and

Fig. 12 is a section taken on the irregular line 121212 of Fig. 8.

The form of stoker herein chosen for description and illustrationcomprises a tender conduit, the rear portion, 2A, of which is troughshaped "and is disposed. beneath the fuel hopper 10 of the tender. Theconduit is mounted so as to be capable of sliding longitudinally withrespect to the tender, as by securing the conduit to a slide 23 (Fig. 4)movably mounted in a longitudinal guideway 10A secured to the tenderframe.

The front end 2E of the tender conduit is enlarged, at 2D, and isformed, beyond such enlargement, so as to produce the ball member 20 ofa hollow ball andsocket joint. In efiect the hollow portion of theball'member 2C constitutes a part of the enlargedinternal end portion ofthe conduit. This enlarged internal portion should be at leastapproximately coextensive in length with the width of the externalspherical surface of the ball member. This ball member 2C enters a,corresponding socket portion 8 formed at the rear end of a riser conduit3, a removable cap 38 being associated with the socket portion 8 tocomplete, with the latter and the ball portion 20, a ball and socketconnection between the tender conduit and the riser conduit 3.

The front end of the riser conduit 3 is formed with flanged portions 28by means of which it is secured to a box shaped casting .31 whichisattached by means of a flange 31A to the backhead of the locomotivefirebox 1 at the lower part of the firing opening 2 of the latter. Inthis manner, the box shaped casting 31 and the riser. conduit 3 form, inefiect, a single continuous feed conduit. The lower part of the casting31 is open, and has secured therein, by means of cap screws 29, a secondcasting 32. This second casting 32 is formed with a flat portionconstituting a delivery table 22which isin alignment with the riserconduit 3, and constitutes a continuation of the lower part of thelatter, the casting 32 being of such size, and so disposed, that thedelivery table 22 extends materially within the inside face of thebackhead of the firebox.

The casting 32 is stepped down, at the front end of the delivery table22, so as to provide a jet head 6, and is formed beyond such jet headwith a shelf constituting a distributor plate 5. The casting is coredout so as to provide right and left hand steam chambers 23 and 23A fromwhich jet openings 6A in the jet head 6 open. The chambers 23 and 23A,through their extensions or passages 24, 24A which open laterally as atthe threaded opening 24B, communicate with steam pipes not shown, butwhich should be provided with suitable control valves, so that steam canbe admitted to the jets on either side of the Jet head 6 to a greater orlesser amount, thereby determining the extent to which fuel will be fedto one side of the firebox or the other. That portion of the deliverytable 22 within the firing opening 2 of the furnace is of greater widththan the portion thereof disposedin the casting 31 to permit the fuel tospread laterally before passing over the jet head 6.

A fuel conveyor screw '7 is rotatably mounted in the tender conduit, andis driven from its rear end, through gearing '7A by means of a flexibleshaft '73 connected by a telescopic and universal joint with a powerdrive mechanism 40 which will be hereinafter described in detail. Thetender conveyor screw '7 is connected, by means of a universal joint,with a second conveyor screw 4 which is rotatably mounted in the riserconduit 3 and extends beyond the frontend of the latter into the casting31 so as to enter the flring opening 2.

The power drive mechanism 40 comprises a motor of the single cylindertype, the cylinder '70 of which houses a piston 15 which is reciprocabletherein to operate a piston rod '71. Secured to the piston rod. '71 is arack gear 41 which is mounted to reciprocate in a housing 40a. At apoint remote from the cylinder '70, the housing 40a is apertured and agear 42 is disposed in the apertured portion and is engaged by the rackgear 41. A cover casting 49 is securedto the top portion of the rackhousing 40a to form a closure for the rearward side of said housingwhich is open to permit machining thereof. A portion of this covercasting 49 also fits over the gear 42 and forms a portion of a bearing'72 for the shaft 61 on which the gear 42 is mounted. A

second cover casting is placed over the gear 42 and the shaft 61 and isbolted securely to theflrst named cover casting 49 and forms therewith acasing for the gear 42 and the other portion of the bearing '72 for theshaft 61.

The shaft 61 extends rearwardly of the gear 42 toward the tender andlies transversely to the rack gear 41. On the rearward portion of theshaft 61 a ratchet wheel 43 is mounted and is engaged by pawls such as44 carried'bythe pawl casing 45. As the rack gear 41 reciprocates in thehousing 40a, the gear 42 rotates first in one direction and then inanother direction. Motion is transmitted to the pawl casing 45 duringone stroke of the piston 15, while during the other stroke, the pawlcasing idles. The direction of rotation of the pawl casing 45 isdetermined by the setting of the pawls 44; the setting of these pawlsmay be changed at will by, the cam shifting collar 16 (Figure 10). Thepawl casing is covered by a plate '73 which is firmly secured to thepawl casing 45 and has formed therewith lugs 62 which form one elementof a universal joint '74 for driving the flexible shaft 7b. The powerdrive mechanism 40 passes underneath the riser conduit 3 transversely tothe locomotive and is rigidly secured to the frame F by suitable boltspassing through the flanges 48 and 56 of the housing 40a and the covercasting 49 respectively. The power drive mechanism is not secured to theriser conduit 3 in any manner and thus whenever it is necessary tooverhaul or repair the drive mechanism, it is only necessary to loosenthe bolts which hold the drive mechanism to the frame F. Such aconstruction greatly expedites repair work and is of great benefit tothe railroads in properly maintaining the stoker in a good state ofrepair.

The fuel, previously broken up into lumps of convenient size by means ofa suitable crushing device such as that indicated-at 20 (Fig. 2), is fedtable 22 it spreads sidewise into a relatively flat stream and flowsover the jet head 6 and onto the distributor plate 5. The steam issuingfrom the jet openings 6A impels the fuel forward into the flrebox so asto distribute it evenly over the bed of fuel in the latter.

By locating the distributor plate 5 at a suitable vertical position inthe firebox, I am enabled to obtain a proper spreading of the fuel inthe latter. At the same time, by placing the distributor platesubstantially within the firebox, and sloping the delivery table 22downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, the height, above the cab deck, ofthe joint between the riser conduit 3 and the casting 31 is lessened,and I thus accomplish a reduction of the upward slope of the riserconduit. In this way I have made it possible to mountthe riser conduitin a position in which it is more nearly horizontal than could otherwisebe the case. This permits an easier feeding of the fuel and lessens therelative movement of the particles thereof, as well as the pressure towhich such particles are subjected, thereby improving the operation ofthe stoker, and reducing the tendency of the feeding action to break upthe fuel into undesirably small particles. Moreover, the riser conduitpasses through the cab deck at a point nearer the front of the latter,thus leaving more floor space available at the back of the cab deck. Atthe same time, the low level of the front end of the riser conduit makesfor specially convenient hand-firing, it being remembered that theflreman, when firing by hand, must shovel the fuel over the riserconduit. Another advantage of the construction is that by providing theextended upwardly sloping delivery table, the use of a conveyor screwwhich reaches well into the firing opening is facilitated, so that thefuel can readily be moved bodily to a position wherefrom it fallsnaturally onto the distributor plate.

The universal joint for connecting the conveyor screws '7 and 4 is shownin Figs. 5 to '7. The

screws '7 and 4,,are forked at their ends to receive pins 34 and 35respectively. Upon these pins are mounted blocks which in turn arepivoted between a pair of link members 36 and 36A adapted to beconnected together by means of a bolt 69. The member 36A is formed witha tongue 37 which enters a corresponding groove of the member 36,thereby to prevent twisting of one of the link members with respect tothe other. The universal joint, as thus constructed, permits an easydriving of the screw 34 from the screw 3'7, in spite of the angularitybetween the screws, which may necessarily be increased in applying thestoker to locomotives in which the firing opening is located at a higherlevel than is here illustrated.

As has been stated, the front end of the tender conduit is enlarged at2D. The rear end of the riser conduit, 3, adjacent the socket portion 8,is likewise enlarged, ,as shown at 3A, the conveyor screws 7 and 4 beingincreased at 7A and 4A, respectively, to accord with the increaseddiameter of the conduits at these points. By this construction, a freeflow of fuel, without jamming and without undue breakage of theparticles thereof, is obtained through the joint between the tenderconduit and the riser conduit 3, in spite of the extra space taken up bythe rotating universal joint. It will be noted the gradual tapering ofthe conduits in opposite directions from their adjacent enlarged endportions to the smaller conduit portions greatly facilitates this smooth"flow of the fuel. In some instances the screw enlargement as at 4Awithout the enlargement at 7A will be found sufficient to maintain thisfree movement.

In order to control, with special ease and accuracy, the distribution ofthe fuel in the firebox, I provide a pair of guide wings or deflectorvanes 25, one of which is pivoted to the casting 31 at each side of theoutlet opening of the latter. The position of the wings 25 can beadjusted by means of hand wheels 30 which are screwed upon stems 30Apivoted to the deflector vanes. As stated, the fuel is fed forwardly onthe delivery table 22 in relatively flat form. By suitable manipulationof the wheels 30, the stream of fuel can be made to flow onto thedistributor plate 5 either substantially over the center of the latteror to a greater or lesser extent over the sides as well as the center.Or the fuel can be made to flow onto the distributor plate 5 more to oneside of the latter than to the other. By this means, as well as by theadjustment of the amount of steam supplied to the chambers 23 and 23A,the fuel can be distributed properly in the firebox in accordance withsuch different conditions as may obtain from time to time.

The delivery table' and distributor plate are cooled to a large extentby the steam in the relatively large steam chambers 23, 23A. In order toprovide further means for cooling the casting 32, the latter is disposedso as to provide a passage 273 between its lower part and the bottomside of the firing opening 2, and is formed with a hollow downwardextension 27A, the interior of which is open. to the atmosphere andcommunicates with the passage 273. Air is induced through the passage273 by the draft from the stack, and impinges against the casting 32 toprevent overheating of the lower part thereof, including the distributorplate .5. When the stack draft is cut off, the'extension 27A has achimney effect, so that air continues to be drawn past the lower part ofthe casting 32 and smoke does not emerge into the cab. Jets 27, forassisting in inducing air through the passage 27B, particularly when thestack draft is cut off, are formed in the casting 32 at the rear ofthepassage 273.

In order to cool the front end of the conveyor screw 4, as well as toprovide means permitting inspection of the interior of the outlet end ofthe stoker, thecasting 31 is formed with a plurality of slotted openings65 in the upper part thereof, a slide 66 being provided for varying thesize of the openings, or closing them if desired. In order, also, tocool the guide wings 25, the flange 31A of the casting 31 is formed withair openings 67 through which air is drawn so as to impinge against thewings 25 and cool the latter.

The stoker of my invention is a material improvement over previousconstructions in that it permits the fuel to be fed from beneath thetender up to and into the firing opening with a minimum of upward slopeof the conduit device. Because of this, the fuel is moved easily, with aminimum of pressure between the particles thereof and with a minimum ofrelative movement of such particles. In this way the proportion of dustand fine particles, produced by abrasion in the fuel during the feedingthereof, is greatly reduced, and a very smooth and efficient feedingaction is obtained. Another important advantage is that the distributionof the fuel in the firebox is exceptionally uniform and eflicient, andthat the control thereof, to place the fuel at various desired positionsin the firebox, is specially complete and convenient. Furthermore, theconstruction of the universal joint employed permits easy driving of oneconveyor screw from the other in spite of material angularity betweenthem, and the construction of the conduit allows a free flow of the fuelregardless of the additional space taken up by the rotating universaljoint.

I claim:

1. In a conveying system, a pair of conduits, a universal jointstructure flexibly connecting the adjacent ends of said conduits, a ballmember formed at .an end of one of said conduits and having an outerspherical surface constituting one element of the universal jointstructure, such conduit having an internal surface tapering inwardlytoward the axis of the conduit from the named end thereof, said taperinginternal surface being at least approximately coextensive in length withthe outer spherical surface of said ball member, and a socket formedwith an adjacent end of the other conduit, said socket having aninternalspherical surface forming a seat for the ball member of the first namedconduit, the second named conduit having a. portion tapering inwardlyfrom adjacent the' aforesaid end of said conduit.

2. In a conveying system, a pair of conduits, a universal jointstructure flexibly connecting the adjacent ends of said conduits, a ballmember formed at an end of one of said conduits and having an outerspherical surface constituting one element of the universal jointstructure, such conduit having an internal surface tapering inwardlytoward the axis of the conduit from the named end thereof, said taperinginternal surface being at least approximately coextensive in length withthe outer spherical surface of said ball member, saidconduit having astraight portion extending from the reduced end of the tapering internalsurface, a socket formed with an adjacent end of the other conduit, saidsocket havingan internal spherical surface forming a seat for the ballmember of the first named conduit, the second named conduit having aportion tapering inwardly from adjacent the aforesaid end thereof and astraight portion extending from the reduced end of said taperingportion.

3. ma conveying system, a pair of conduits, a universal joint structureflexibly connecting the adjacent ends of said conduits, a ball memberformed at an end of one of said conduits and having an outer sphericalsurface constituting one element of the universal joint structure, suchconduit having an internal surface tapering inwardly toward the axis ofthe conduit from the named end thereof, said tapering surface being atleast approximately coextensive in.length with the outer sphericalsurface of said ball member, said conduit having a straight portionextending from the reduced end of the tapering internal surface, thesecond conduit being angularly disposed with respect to the first namedconduit, a socket formed with an end of the second named conduitadjacent the first named conduit, said socket having an internal surfaceforming a seat for the ball member of the first named conduit, thesecond named conduit having a portion tapering inwardly from adjacentthe aforesaid end thereof, a straight portion extending from the reducedend of said tapering portion, and a flexible conveyor in said conveyingsystem, including a conveyor screw in the first named conduit, aconveyor screw in the second named conduit, each conveyor screw beingprovided with a forked jaw terminating adjacent the tapering surface ofsaid ball member, and a link connecting the forked jaws and constitutingone element of a universal joint connecting the named screw conveyor.

4. A stoker riser conduit of tubular formation having a fuel receivingend and a fuel delivery end constructed with its bottom wall terminatingshort of its side walls at said delivery end to form in said end anopening in the bottom of the conduit extending from one side wall to theother, said conduit having a spherical seat formed at its fuel receivingend, a straight portion included between said seatand said opening and atapering portion intermediate said seat K nd said straight portion ofthe conduit.

having a spherical seat formed at its fuelreceiv ing end, a straightportion included between said seat and said opening and a taperingportion "intermediate said seat and said straight portion of theconduit. 1

6. In a conveying system, a pair of conduits at their adjacent endsforming a. universal joint structure, each conduit being provided withan enlarged end at said joint structure and with a smaller portionadjoining said enlarged end, said enlarged end of the one conduit havingan external sphrical surface forming a ball member constituting oneelement of the joint structure and including a tapering internal surfacetapering from the front face of said ball member toward the said smallerportion of the conduit, the enlarged end of the other conduit includinga socket member constituting another element of the joint structure andan internal tapering surface tapering from adjacent said socket membertoward the said smaller portion of the conduit, said socket memberhaving an internal surface conforming to the ball member of the firstnamed conduit for forming a seat therefor, a screw conveyor in each ofsaid conduits, the screw conveyor within the second named conduit beingarranged with that portion within the enlarged end of the conduit havingan enlarged flight portion conforming approximately to the enlarged endof the conduit and arranged with its remaining flights conformingapproximately to the smaller portion of the conduit, and a universaljoint member connecting the adjacent ends of said screws within thevicinity of the universal joint structure of the conduits.

7. In a conveying system, a pair of conduits at their adjacent endsforming a universal joint structure, each conduit being provided with anenlarged end at said joint structure and with a smaller portionadjoining said enlarged end, said enlarged end of the one conduit havingan external spherical surface forming a ball member constituting oneelement of the joint structure and including a tapering internal surfacetapering from the front face of said ball member toward the said smallerportion of the conduit, the enlarged end of the other conduit includinga socket member constituting another element of the joint structure andan internal tapering sur face tapering from'adjacent said socket membertoward the said smaller portion of the conduit, said socket memberhaving an internal surface conforming to the ball member of the firstnamed conduit for'forming a seat-therefor, a screw conveyor in each ofsaid conduits, that portion of each screw within the enlarged end of itsrespective conduit having an enlarged flight portion conformingapproximately to the enlarged end of the conduit and arrange with itsremaining flightsconforming approximately to the respective smallerportions of said conduits, and a universal joint member connecting theadjacent ends of said screws within the vicinity of the universal jointstructure of the conduits.

' NATHAN M. LOWER.

